I Thought We Were Pretending
by cookiecatt
Summary: Craig and Tweek try their best to keep the town, and their parents, convinced that they're a couple to spare their feelings... but their acting may be a little too believable. AU where the episode "Tweek x Craig" didn't happen until they were Juniors in High School (17/18).
1. Chapter 1: Acting

It was like some sort of fucked up arranged marriage. Tweek Tweak, the paranoid kid who hated having attention on himself, and Craig Tucker, the boy who loved things nice and boring, were now forced into the top of the current social hierarchy by a group of Asian girls.

Craig sighed heavily, staring across the table at the twitchy blonde who was now labeled as his 'boyfriend'. Around four days ago, a group of exchange students had spread drawings of the duo- mostly romantic, but some sexual- around town. Craig had no idea why everyone took their fantasies as the truth, even with both of them being very openly opposed, but even their parents didn't believe them.

Craig had talked Tweek into acting like they 'broke up', to stop all the rumors; however, after seeing everyone so upset by their split, Tweek convinced Craig into acting like they got back together. At the very least, Craig was convinced that his new 'boyfriend' was a very good actor. He was now faced with a more difficult task- keeping things normal between them.

"... Tweek." He watched as the blond let out a surprised "gah!", darting his olive eyes to meet the raven-haired boy's deep blue ones.

"J-Jesus Christ, wh-what?" He tugged nervously at his tie. When they started high school, Craig and all his friends chose to reinvent themselves- Token grew out his hair and braided it neatly, opting for mostly music-related clothing. It was a good look for him. Clyde had gone the opposite direction, lazily growing his brunette hair into a messy mop and wearing only graphic t-shirts and baggy jeans. Craig and Tweek ended up with a similar style, possibly because Tweek was desperately grasping for an identification at the time. When Craig died a cobalt streak in his raven-colored hair, Tweek followed like a shadow and decided on a pastel green. When Craig got snakebites and a tongue piercing, Tweek got a bellybutton ring and an industrial bar. Their closets would practically be interchangeable if Tweek wasn't so lanky... No wonder the Asian girls thought they were a couple.

"Calm down, dude. We just need to talk about this while our parents aren't breathing down our necks." He watched as the blond's eyes darted around in a frightened way. "... Breathe, Tweek." He'd known for years that he had to be gentle with the jittery boy, and it was even more important now that they were 'dating' and people could tell him off for verbal abuse if he was rough with him like he was with anyone else. He slowly stood up, retrieving another cup of coffee for the coffee addict. He swore, Tweak Bros. coffee had to be laced with something by the way Tweek acts about it. After sitting the cup in front of Tweek and watching him gulp down the scalding black liquid, wincing at how many burns this kid must have in his throat, he sat back down. "... Better?"

"A-ah! S-sorry Craig... I-I'm fine!" He continued to stutter in a screeching voice. Even after his voice changed, it was still pretty shrill- not that Craig was one to talk, with his voice still being extremely nasal. Tweek closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly regaining some sliver of calm. They were in his parents' coffee house, Tweak Bros. Coffee, which made him a bit on edge to begin with after working there since he was a kid, but talking one-on-one with Craig did cause the blond to stutter a little less. "What do we need to talk about?" Craig calmed down somewhat as well when Tweak stopped being as on-edge.

"Well, if you thought acting during our 'breakup' was hard, now we've got to act like a couple. Like, all the time. Until this stupid town and our parents get bored of all of this and forget it ever happened." He watched Tweek's occasional muscle spasms from across the table. He was thinking very intently.

"How was my acting last time...?" Craig was a little surprised at the sudden question, but his eternally neutral face wouldn't show it.

"You... did fine, Tweek. You took it a little too far, but it was believable." All of this was an incredible understatement, considering Craig was trying to make their 'breakup scene' short and simple, whereas Tweek got intense and angry. He even through in an accusation of cheating and manipulation. At the time, Craig was completely pissed off; looking back, however, Tweek genuinely tried to do as the taller boy said. He got too into the role, sure, but in his own words: Craig made him believe in himself. He couldn't stay mad at the twitchy, jittery boy over something like that. The blond thought to himself again, twitching and spilling a little of his coffee on his hand.

"I think we'll b-be able to do this..." He tugged at his tie again. The raven-haired boy watched him, wondering how Tweek never choked himself with it, but it was still better than tearing his hair out. "W-we just have to... Ah! ... Make it believable...!"

Craig watched with his mouth somewhat agape, though still nearly expressionless. He was half-expecting Tweek to yell his signature 'it's too much pressure!', like the last time Craig told him they had to act. Had he... enjoyed acting? Tweek started to shake and twitch yet again, his anxiety growing from Craig's silence. "... That's a good attitude, Tweek." a sliver of hope flashed across Tweek's face before the door to the coffee shop creaked open. Craig peered over in time to see Mr. Tweak and, without hesitation, grabbed one of Tweek's warm, rough hands. Tweek jumped, nearly spilling more of his coffee, but stifled his normal shrieks by squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

"You boys play nice," he heard the man's voice ring across the room before taking his place behind the counter. Craig gently turned Tweek's hand around in his own while waiting for Mr. Tweak to take his attention off of them. The somewhat younger boy had several callus-like burns on his hands, likely from his jittery hands trying to hold onto scalding coffee. His fingernails were messily coated in a pastel green polish. He did it himself now, more or less painting his entire fingertips and hoping it washes off of his skin in the shower, but Craig helped him the first time. Tweek had thought Craig painting his nails black was cool, so he wanted to do the same... They had both taken being able to hang out as friends for granted. The blue-eyed boy let out a large sigh before standing up, keeping Tweek's hand in his own.

"Let's go for a walk, Tweek."

"C-Christ, okay...!" he was shaking as he stood up, getting nervous yet again. Craig was staring at the ground, avoiding eye-contact with Tweek's dad and interlocking his fingers with his 'boyfriend' as they left. He gave Tweek's hand a reassuring squeeze as he held the door open for him. Tweek was getting on edge again, likely because of his dad. While Craig's parents initially reacted negatively to the news that the two had gotten 'together', they eventually came around. Tweek's parents, on the other side, responded very positively- too positively. His dad saw having a 'gay son' as a business opportunity. This might have been why Tweek changed his mind about wanting to keep their charade up... It was too much pressure for the poor guy.

They walked down Shi Tpa Town in silence for awhile before Craig released the other boy to pull out a lighter and a pack of Newports. He noticed the immediate discomfort creep across the blond's face as his muscle spasms started again. "Calm down, Tweek." It didn't work so easily this time.

"Cr-Craig, you're not even old enough to smoke...!" The raven lit his cigarette, taking a long draw.

"Only by a few months, relax." The smoke poured out of his mouth as he talked, filling Tweek's lungs with second-hand smoke and causing him to cough.

"G-gah! Jesus Christ, y-you're gonna kill both of us!" Craig shook his head in response.

"I read online that it's not that risky. Maybe if I were a chain-smoker, but I'm not." He'd started smoking when Clyde did when they were sixteen. Clyde's smoking was short-lived, due to wanting to keep his place on the football team, but Craig enjoyed it. He would smoke when he was stressed, and being around Tweek admittedly didn't help his stress levels. He watched Tweek's widened eyes dart around. "... Deep breaths, Tweek." He captured the thin boy's hand yet again, holding on tightly.

"A-ah...! O-oh... Alright..." He was still twitching and darting his eyes around, but he stood still as Craig blew a ring of smoke at him, trying to show him that the smoke wouldn't kill him. Tweek squeezed his eyes tightly shut, coughing somewhat. "... I-it sort of smells like mint..." Craig snorted a little through his nose before giving him a short, monotone laugh.

"They're menthols, not mints, Tweek." The blond opened his eyes, staring at the ground. He seemed a little embarrassed, but Craig didn't see anything particularly weird about what he said, so he just gave his hand another squeeze as they walked forward.


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

Craig could hear an irritating, persistent knocking at his door. He knew it was morning, but he didn't want to go back to school- He hadn't talked to Clyde or Token since he started 'dating' Tweek, and he wasn't sure how they'd react. He could tell them the truth, but it would risk exposing them to everyone; this would surely be too much pressure for Tweek. He pulled the covers over his head and flipped the door off as the knocking got louder.

"Craig, wake up! Your boyfriend's here!" Tricia's voice rang out loudly. Craig's little sister seemed very natural about their arrangement; she'd already mentioned that she wanted to be an aunt, much to Craig's disdain. The tall boy reluctantly scraped himself out of bed. Clyde normally walked to his house in the morning so Craig would give him a ride, and the raven-haired boy had asked Tweek to meet him so they could go to school together... This was going to be an interesting ride.

He threw on the same kind of clothes he normally wore and grabbed his backpack before exiting his room, stopping only when he noticed Tweek's shaking form standing at the bottom of the stairs. He looked like a wreck, and his yellow shirt was drenched with coffee. The pair of shifty olive eyes quickly darted in Craig's direction.

"G-gah! C-Craig... I came like you t-told me to..." Craig descended halfway down the steps, ignoring Tweek's normal twitchiness for the time being.

"What happened to your clothes?" Craig asked this, but he could easily guess from context. He could smell the warm scent of coffee in the air... The blond was efficiently turned into a walking mocha air freshener. His eyes darted around once again as he went into another spell of muscle spasms.

"J-Jesus! I-I'm just... sort of nervous to see how your f-friends are gonna react to all this...I-I ended up losing control of my arm and spilled it on myself on the way here...!" Craig felt himself make a face at that statement. 'your friends'... Tweek really felt like an outsider around them. The raven shook the thought off before catching the blond's shaky wrist and starting to walk back up the stairs.

"C'mon, you can borrow one of my shirts." Token wasn't as likely to make a huge fuss about these things, but he knew Clyde would pick everything apart. Even if he didn't mean it negatively, he had a way of being an asshole to Tweek. At least a clean shirt would subtract one teasing subject. The caffeine addict followed, but protested quietly.

"Ch-Christ Craig, I'm fine...!"

"Relax, Tweek. 'S just a shirt." Craig wasn't sure why Tweek was so nervous around him, but he wasn't going to let the lanky kid freeze out there with a wet shirt on. He brought him into his room, closing the door behind them in case Tricia came back upstairs. The last thing they needed was Tweek to be even more nervous around Craig's family. The taller male dug through the pile of clean clothes piled in his computer chair until he found a shirt he didn't mind losing in case the 'gnomes' started stealing shirts.

"Here," he stated flatly, handing Tweek the black and blue t-shirt. He paused before offering a small smile and accepting. Craig watched as he spun around on his heel to face the door rather than his 'boyfriend', removing his coffee-stained shirt. The raven-haired boy couldn't help but wonder why, they'd been shirtless around each other plenty of times... but he chose not to question it. As the blond started pulling his newly gifted shirt on, footsteps rang up the stairs. Before they had a chance to react, the door swung open and in stepped a very hyperactive Clyde.

"Crai- ... Oh." His eyes widened a little and he paled when he noticed Tweek struggling with putting his shirt on. He sputtered an apology, clearly assuming the worst. Craig quickly darted to him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt before he could flee, possibly alerting his parents that something's up. Craig's parents did not trust him with significant others in his room.

"Dude, chill. We're not even doing anything." He closed the door again, this time with Clyde inside, before giving Tweek's shirt a tug to pull it down. "What the fuck, dude? Shirts are not this hard." The blond uttered an embarrassed apology, tugging his tie in the midst of another muscle spasm. Craig turned to his best friend once more, noticing the lingering look of panic in his eyes as he stared them down. Clyde wasn't afraid to start crying when his emotions got the best of him- just like in elementary school- so Craig knew he had to act fast to figure out what was bothering the brunette to prevent the waterworks. Returning to his side, he spoke quietly so Tweek couldn't hear them. "Dude, what's wrong?"

"I heard about you and Tweek, but I thought it was just a stupid rumor..."

"Clyde, dude, I can explain-"

"Why didn't you tell me first?" There it was. A stream of tears soaked his freckled face. Craig was more confused than anything- why did Clyde care enough to react like this?

"It all just sorta happened- I know it's weird, but-" Clyde cut him off.

"I don't care that you're ass fucking Tweek, but you're supposed to tell me these things! I shouldn't have to find them out from school gossip!" ... Oh. Clyde was just playing the role of the narcissist best friend, of course. He honestly hadn't considered that Clyde would get his feelings hurt; they normally told each other about things like relationships before making anything official. Regardless, Craig flipped him off before returning to Tweek to let the emotional boy cry it out. the blond watched anxiously from his spot on the other side of the room.

"Ch-Christ, what's he crying about now?" Craig shook his head.

"Nothing important." This might have seemed harsh, but Clyde really did cry about ridiculous things nowadays. It didn't help that someone told him chicks dug 'sensitive' guys, which only enabled him even more. Craig knew how this would go: he'd calm down, call Craig gay and then ask too many personal questions when he stopped being butthurt. The raven sort of preferred this stage of his 'grieving'. Craig threw his backpack back over his shoulders before taking Tweek's hand and guiding him back out of the room. By the hurried footsteps behind him, they assumed Clyde had calmed down a little.

He bid a quick goodbye to his mom in the form of a raised middle finger before leading his small group out to his car: a gorgeous blue Honda S2000. Craig adored that car... Almost as much as Stripe the 6th. Craig hovered by the car for a moment before slipping to the passenger side with Tweek. The blond watched him curiously, a slight pink veil covering his face as the taller boy released his hand and opened the door for him.

"Y-you didn't- u-uhm-...!" Tweek's eyes darted nervously between Craig and Clyde. He'd assumed Clyde was going to have shotgun, and by the look on the brunette's face, he wasn't the only one. Craig, on the other hand, didn't seem to pick up on context clues.

"... C'mon, dude. I wanna stop at Harbuck's to get a bagel. You can get a coffee." He noticed the other boy's olive eyes light up at the word 'coffee', forcing an understanding smile. He really shouldn't be enabling his coffee addiction, but it's not like he won't find coffee somewhere else- not to mention how stressful today was going to be for him. The raven-haired boy could easily flip anyone off who gave him a hard time or asked too many questions- like Clyde- but Tweek would likely end up pulling his hair out or screaming. The blond slowly shifted into the front seat with one last glance to Clyde, who stomped to the back seat as if he were banished. Craig simply ensured all of Tweek's limbs were in the car before shutting the door and taking his place on the driver's side.

After a car ride full of repetitive questions from Clyde and violent, stress-induced spasms from Tweek, they finally made it to school. Craig parked next to Token's strikingly purple Corvette, like he always did, peering through the window to see the music-lover dancing in the driver's seat. Tweek let out an audible sigh, continuing to sip his coffee. He was clearly stressed about people's opinions of him... or, at least stressed from all the attention. He was out of the car before Craig had a chance to pull the same cheesy door game, warranting a small laugh from the former, and Clyde dashed past the other boys to tap on Token's window.

"Token! Bro! Token!" The tall boy jumped harshly at the sudden pecking, clearly caught up in his tunes. turning the radio down he stepped out of his Corvette, only to be greeted by a violent squeeze from the freckle-faced brunette. "Token. Our boy's grown up." The jet-haired boy merely chortled, shoving him away and playfully messing up his mop-hair.

"Guessing it's true, then?" He turned to Craig and Tweek, who watched the display somewhat uneasily. The raven nodded, wrapping an arm around the blond as if claiming him. He had to make this realistic if they were going to convince their closest friends. Tweek merely jumped, darting his olive eyes around violently before slowly ceasing his shivering. Craig made a mental note that his new 'boyfriend' seemed to like this sort of attention.

"Those Asian chicks really outed us." Token approached his slightly shorter friend, messing around with the chullo hat he always wore in a playful way.

"It's the right hat, and the right dorky haircut, but I dunno Clyde... It doesn't seem like the right angsty teen. He might've gotten confused with another one." The jet-haired boy shot him a lighthearted grin to let him know he was just joking, receiving a raised middle finger as a result. He turned to check on Tweek, only to find Clyde harassing him.

"Guess this makes us like, in-laws, eh Tweekers? Gonna start hanging out with us more?"

"G-gah! Jesus Ch-Christ, I don't know... This is too much pressure!" The blond started to shake and wriggle around, only to be reigned in by Craig. He shifted his hand down to Tweek's waist, pulling him closer to his chest in an attempt to calm his spasms; The coffee-addict continued to yank at his tie nervously.

"Fuck off, Clyde." This was going to be an excruciatingly frustrating day if even their gang was acting like this.


	3. Chapter 3: Practice

It didn't take long for Token to go back to his normal, chilled-out self. He had just given Craig one last odd, brotherly smile before changing the subject to the new band he learned about. Clyde even turned his attention off of Tweek which, while it relieved the twitchy blond, meant Craig was back to the center of the hyperactive boy's attention. He didn't mind nearly as much as Tweek; Clyde had been his best friend since they were kids, so he was somewhat used to his clingy tendencies and far-too-personal questions. Something was off this time, however... In Homeroom, when Craig turned to glance at Clyde, he had an oddly wistful look in his eyes. He needed to talk to him at lunch.

In between classes, Craig had a better chance to check on Tweek. He was having a panic attack in home room, but he wasn't allowed to follow him into the hallways when he got sent out to calm down. Approaching the lanky blond from behind, he started humming a little tune- this had become a habit since middle school, the only sure-fire way to not startle Tweek when approaching from behind (even if that meant Craig had to look like a moron for a second). Turning around, the raven could tell his partner wasn't doing well. For once, he looked more exhausted than jittery.

"... H-hey, Craig..." The taller boy let out a small breath out of his nose as he saw what was inside Tweek's open locker: small words of encouragement scrawled out on sticky notes and torn pieces of paper. 'You do you', 'love is not a choice', most accompanied with scribbled rainbows or hearts. Even a small note from Cartman: 'you're welcome'... whatever that means. You definitely couldn't say South Park High was intolerant.

"... Overwhelmed with the attention?" He offered his friend an understanding smile as Tweek nodded, turning one of the notes over in his hands.

"But t-they seem happy... That's what we're doing this for, right...?" His olive eyes drifted up to Craig's cobalt ones as he lowered his voice. He couldn't risk breaking the illusion for everyone. Not knowing how to audibly respond to the blond's semi-sweet statement, the older boy gently took one of Tweek's hands into his own.

"... It'll be okay. We're in this together, man." Even with all the support in the world, Tweek was still a paranoid kid. He didn't let just anyone in, so Craig knew he'd have to be the one to try and ease the blond's anxieties. He noticed a smile creep to his boyfriend's face, flooding Craig with a wave of relief. He knew Tweek could make it through the day.

The day's schedule panned out about how the raven-haired boy had assumed: go to class, lots of expectant eyes staring at them. Dumb questions, supportive 'fangirls'. Tweek starts screaming from all the attention, gets sent into the hall and Craig can't think straight until he's allowed back in. Repeat. Finally, after the most stressful hours of their lives, it was time for lunch.

Token sat next to Clyde, leaving Craig to sit across from them and save a spot for Tweek. The duo had walked into the lunch room together, but the thinner boy went to retrieve coffee before he could sit back down. As the messy blond fluff disappeared across the room, the raven-haired boy noticed he was being watched.

"... What?" Token and Clyde looked way too giddy.

"Dude, why didn't you tell us earlier?" Token's voice was strangely warm. He had expected more teasing.

"We haven't been dating that long... It just sort of happened." Vague. Vague was good. This provoked an eye-roll from Clyde.

"We already knew, dumbass." ... This statement caught Craig completely off-guard. What was there to know?

"... What do you mean, asshole? Tweek and I have only been dating for less than a week." He involuntarily flipped Clyde off. The brunette ignored Craig's regular tick.

"Not about you and Tweek, about you." Token nodded in agreement.

"We've known you were gay since middle school, dude. We just assumed you'd end up with Butters or Kenny... You really threw a curveball at us with Tweekers." The jet-haired boy chuckled at Craig's baffled expression. Butters had been openly gay since the 8th grade, and Kenny wasn't particularly worried about what others thought so he casually mentioned to their small group that he was bisexual not long after. Craig wanted to reply with a 'I'm not gay, I'm just pretending', but he knew this was out of the question. Tweek wanted to keep the charade up. He instead went with the next best rebuttal.

"But I didn't even know until Tweek and I started dating," he noted in a somewhat grumpy fashion. Clyde grinned, laying his chin on his hand in a playfully dreamy manner.

"We knew." Craig felt his cheeks heat up out of a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. The brunette's brother-like persona quickly drifted away by his next question. "... You made out with him yet?" a smirk formed on his lips. The raven had very casual tendencies when he dated someone. Relationships with Craig Tucker meant the following: kissing on a first date, being arm candy for a whole half a day and crying over a breakup the other half. Craig truly didn't give a shit about any of the girls he'd dated, he was surprised chicks still asked him out. Craig shook his head a little.

"Not yet, I don't wanna scare him. He is Tweek, after all," Craig lied. He honestly hadn't considered that they'd have to be willing to be more affectionate in public than just hand-holding to keep up their façade. This wasn't 4th grade, after all. They needed to practice this stuff. The raven watched as Tweek scurried back to the table, cup of coffee in hand. The trio greeted the twitchy member of their group, Craig lost in thought.

"... Hey, Tweek?" He watched the blond jump slightly before directing his attention to him "... Come over after school, 'kay? I'll drive you." Craig didn't mean to state this as a command, but he knew Tweek would likely panic if given a choice. Besides, his parents were going to be out of the house all evening on a date night, and Tricia was going to a friend's house; it'd be the best opportunity for them to discuss matters farther.

"Ch-Christ, alright...!" He took note of the nervous look in the blond's eyes. Was he assuming the worst? The older boy thought for a moment before slipping his hand into Tweek's, garnering a muscle spasm before he reciprocated and interlocked their fingers. One positive thing in all this mess was that Craig had discovered how quickly he could reassure Tweek with this simple gesture. Even when things were going well, the blond always had something to panic about.

The rest of the day trudged on in the same pattern as the beginning of the day. At least now Craig knew why Clyde and Token kept grinning at him. With every class, the amount of their classmates who hadn't heard the 'news' of their relationship dwindled; with it, Tweek's panic attacks slowly leveled out. By the end of the day, Tweek was back to his normal self- even if that still meant random spasms and shrieks. The blond ran up to Craig after class, grabbing his hand.

"D-dude, let's get out of here- gah! This whole school's fucking crazy!" Craig gave him a small smile, but he was increasingly nervous about what he was planning to propose to Tweek. He needed to smoke first.

"Let's go, babe." These words slipped out of Craig's mouth out of nowhere. Both of the boys paused, lips parted in shock with a tinge of red on their cheeks. Shaking it off, the taller boy walked dead-ahead, only stopping once they made their way to Craig's Honda. Tweek stopped the raven-haired boy as he released his hand, ready to get into the car.

"W-wait, what about Clyde?"

"I only drive 'im to school, he usually goes home with Stan when they have practice." Practice. The word made Craig's ears hot. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with this plan of his... Tweek, however, was none the wiser. With another twitch he slipped into the seat, quickly belting himself up. Craig felt like he blew through half a pack of Newports just on the ride home.

Once they got back to Craig's house, they slowly stepped out. The blond stared down the driveway, noting the lack of cars.

"Where're your parents?"

"Out on their date night- we'll have the place to ourselves for awhile." The raven noticed his boyfriend's sudden apprehension. "... What?" His eyes darted around in paranoia, as is the way of the caffeine addict.

"J-Jesus Christ, wh-what'd you want me to come over for...?" Craig put his hands up defensively. He should've guessed Tweek would notice the raven's nerves.

"Calm down, Tweek. I just needed to discuss some stuff about this relationship thing with you."

"W-we're keeping all our clothes on, right?" Craig stifled the need to flip Tweek off for that remark.

"Yes, Tweek. You have to be able to trust me if I'm gonna be your 'boyfriend', y'know." The shorter boy started to relax somewhat, following him obediently into the house and up the steps to Craig's room. Other than the discarded yellow shirt from earlier and the pile of clean laundry not in its place, it was pretty pristine... unlike Tweek's, which was a mess of model cars, action figures he didn't play with anymore and empty coffee mugs. Craig sat on his bed, patting the soft mattress in front of him; Tweek soon obliged and sat across from him, watching his expression nervously.

"W-what did- gah! ... you wanna do?" He furrowed his brows in concern, always paranoid about the unknown. Craig took deep breath for what he was about to say.

"We have to get used to kissing if we're gonna keep pretending to be boyfriends." Craig always did tend to be as blunt as possible to get the point across... but maybe that was a little too much. The blond's eyes grew wide and his lips parted in surprise before tugging at his hair with a shriek. On instinct from being around Tweek for years, the raven darted his hands out to grab his wrists and pull them away from his mane.

"J-Jesus Christ, no way man! That is way too much pressure! I-I've never even _kissed_ anyone before!" Craig stopped for a moment, dumbfounded. Never? He's almost seventeen years old... The raven shook this thought off. Tweek hadn't been in any relationships, Craig was admittedly a manwhore at this point. No sense in arguing which was worse.

"Well, I've done it a ton of times. I'll teach you the ropes." He'd half-expected Tweek to scream and have another spasm, but he instead clasped his hands over his face in an embarrassed manner with a growl-like groan. He stayed like this for what felt like ages before speaking up.

"... Okay Craig, show me how to do it." The older boy noted the lack of a stutter in his voice, much like when they spoke behind Craig's house after their 'breakup'. It made him feel oddly good about himself. He scooted closer until their knees touched and cautiously, as if he were trying to soothe an injured animal, removed Tweek's hands from his face. His cheeks were tinged with pink and he was breathing in shaky, somewhat shallow breaths in anticipation. Craig leaned closer, only for the younger boy to jump and attempt to cover his face again.

"... Dude, if you can't do this, just say so." The last thing he wanted to do was scar the tweeky boy for life; however, Tweek shook his head in protest.

"I-I'm fine, dude! I'm just not used to it!" He seemed oddly eager- or, at least, eager to get it over with. The blue-eyed boy simply nodded.

"Close your eyes, Tweek. It'll probably help." The thin boy quickly did as he was told, squeezing them shut. Craig let out an inaudible sigh, leaning in again. Tweek's spasms were still very noticeable, so the raven gently held his boyfriend's chin with one hand. Stopping near Tweek's face to gather his nerves, Craig couldn't help noticing how much the blond smelled of coffee; though the raven didn't like drinking coffee, the smell was always enjoyable. Finally ready, he pressed his lips to the other's.

He'd intended to make it a small peck, like he tended to do to any chick, but part of him wanted to make Tweek's first kiss worth it... _What an embarrassing thought._ Slowly and gently, trying to keep the caffeine-addict calm, he tilted his head to the side and moved his mouth against Tweek's. He could feel his snakebites pressing against the blond's quivering lips, and soon the blond attempted to kiss back. Though he was jittery and unsure, Craig had to give it to him for trying. After awhile the raven pulled back, moving his hand to Tweek's shoulder and watching as a pair of olive eyes shot open.

"... Not so bad, right?" His face was as red as his partner's at the moment, and they both started laughing lightheartedly.

"N-not as scary as I figured it'd be..." Craig mulled this over for a moment before making claw-like hand movements in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"What're you talking about? I'm terrifying." Tweek started giggling, more or less just because of the flat tone in his voice. The raven smiled. This whole 'relationship' thing didn't seem so scary anymore, either.


	4. Chapter 4: Invitation

**Thanks to anyone who's been reading this!**

 **Apologies for this chapter being mostly leading up to future events, but it must be done!**

After the first kiss, their relationship gradually came more naturally to them. Tweek would come over in the morning on school days, Craig would drive him to school, and they'd hold hands anywhere they went. When they had to part ways to go to classes they didn't have together, they'd give each other a short kiss. Nothing felt particularly forced; that was, until Clyde made his big announcement.

"Craig! Craig!" Before the raven knew what hit him, he'd been grabbed from behind by an overzealous brunette in between classes. Shaking him off, Craig turned to face his freckled friend- noting how far he made Tweek jump during his attack and flipping him off. This didn't seem to stop the brown-eyed boy's enthusiasm. "You won't believe what happened!" The blue-eyed boy knew he wouldn't get away from Clyde until he listened to him.

"... What's that?" His voice dripped in disinterest, but the brunette continued.

"I've got a date with Lola! Like, the cheerleader Lola!" As Craig had predicted, he wasn't interested whatsoever.

"G-good job, Clyde!" Tweek's enthusiasm was simply from the coffee in his hands- that and he wanted to keep in good standing with Craig's friends. Clyde beamed at the blond before continuing.

"Yeah- all I have to do is throw a party and invite you guys!" This statement stopped the couple in their tracks. They both assumed she wanted something from him, but this was a very odd request. Craig was the first to put their internal concerns into words.

"Why us?" His voice was flat as always, but that wasn't anything Clyde wasn't used to and he simply shrugged it off.

"She named a few couples, you guys were just one of them... And you guys are the only holdouts, so you can't say no!" He looked pretty intense about this. With a sigh, the raven turned to Tweek.

"... What do you think?" He felt like he didn't even have to ask with the panicked expression the blond was wearing.

"Gah! J-Jesus, that's too much pressure! Parties have so many p-people! And what if the cops come? I don't wanna get arrested!" Craig grabbed Tweek's hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"... I think you have an answer, dude." It didn't take long for Clyde to suddenly grab at Tweek's shirt and turn on the waterworks again.

"Dude please! This could be my one chance at true love!" Craig was used to this sort of behavior, but the blond certainly wasn't. With a shriek and another muscle spasm, he flew backwards into his boyfriend for protection.

"Ch-Christ, but you say that every other week!" Getting the message that Tweek didn't want to get clung to, the brunette resorted to clasping his hands in a pleading fashion. The raven rolled his eyes, but the blond was a little more soft-hearted. After a moment of mulling it over, he turned to face Craig. He spoke in the lowest voice he could muster, as if it were some embarrassing secret. "... I-if we go, you have to promise to stay with me..." The raven blinked, surprised that Clyde was able to persuade him so easily, and even more so that Tweek made such an honest request. The brunette's eyes lit up, still getting the gist of the question, and watched Craig expectantly.

"... Before you agree to anything, you should know that Clyde's parties always have alcohol, Tweek." He watched panic flash through the blond's eyes at this. Tweek looked between Craig and Clyde for a moment, tugging his tie nervously and having another fit of spasms. Both the brunette and raven attempted to stop him; even though he didn't show it, Clyde sort of thought of Tweek like a little brother so he didn't want to upset him.

"H-hey dude, it's okay! You've got plenty of time to think about it, the party's not until a week from Saturday!" Craig shot his best friend a thankful- albeit incredibly short- look for not pushing the blond any farther. Tweek was still getting used to the extra attention brought on by their rehearsed relationship, so talking him down from an anxiety peak was a lot of effort... or, at least, more effort than Craig had ever been required to give to anyone.

"Gah! A-alright, we'll think about it!" The olive-eyed boy started to breathe more easily, but he still insistently grabbed Craig's hand as if on instinct. He didn't mind, clutching the trembling hand with his frigidly cold one. He didn't know how Tweek kept his hands so warm in the middle of winter... though, to be fair, his entire body practically radiated heat. Clyde grinned at Tweek before ruffling his hair up and dashing off to his next class, earning another 'gah!' in response. Turning to Craig, as if wordlessly snitching on Clyde, the blond was only met with another farewell kiss.

"I gotta get to class, babe... I'll catch you at lunch." Craig couldn't keep himself from calling the younger boy pet names- it was a reflex, and he'd let it slip so many times that they both accepted it as part of their routine. Tweek simply smiled sheepishly, his cheeks tinted pink as they often were after a kiss. The raven couldn't deny that he felt a heart palpitation in that moment... Trying to ignore it he scurried off to his class, anxiously clenching his fists to keep his tick of flipping people off under control.

Flopping into his desk upon entering the classroom, the taller boy let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't lose his cool often, but sometimes he wondered what Tweek's real feelings on this 'relationship' was... How long did he want to keep it up? They hadn't really discussed that part. Craig's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the puffball on his chullo hat being lifted up and off of his head.

"Something up? ... You look like something's up." The raven peered up to see his offender- the messy kid with strawberry blond hair was sitting backwards in his seat, staring him down.

"Can it McCormick, nothing's up." Craig pulled the strings of his hat down with one hand while flipping Kenny of with the other. He simply snickered, crossing his arms over the back of his seat.

"Man, pretty defensive for nothing being up... You're blushing, by the way." The edges of Kenny's lips curled at that last statement, clearly proud of his observational skills. He'd stopped wearing his parka hood so tightly around his face just in time to get a mouth full of braces. Though he was a lot easier to understand now, having what several of the girls in their grade considered a 'pretty face' seemed to have gone to his head. Regardless, he seemed to be most level-headed of his gang, so Craig didn't really mind him... aside from this moment.

"I'm not blushing, I just had to rush to class. ... Are you going to Clyde's party?" Craig was trying to change the subject as quickly as possible before the attention made his cheeks go any redder. Kenny just laughed a little.

"Of course, man! I'm trying to talk ol' Leo into being my date- but some kids started some rumor about us so it's not gonna be easy. Just my luck, eh?" The raven had to think for a moment before remembering Butters' real name was Leopold. Though Craig tended to avoid long conversations with Kenny, he was also his best source of information that the others weren't willing to give.

"... Any idea why Lola wants so many couples to show up?" Craig tried to seem nonchalant, but chicks' plans made him nervous. This earned another laugh from the poor boy.

"Dude, it's a make-out party... Of course a lot of couples'll be there." Craig's eyes widened somewhat- the ice king had frozen up. Noticing the paler boy's expression, Kenny went on. "... Didn't Lola tell you that?" Craig shook his head somewhat.

"She's not the one who invited us, Clyde did."

"Pffft, figures! Clyde's as dense, as... well, you. No wonder you guys're so close." Another annoying, high-pitched cackle. Craig swore under his breath a little; once Tweek found out what kind of party it was, there was no way they were going to go.

Craig had decided to wait until he could get the blond alone before talking to him, so he approached him at the end of the day. Just like clockwork, their hands connected the moment the raven reached Tweek. The caffeine addict shot him a small smile.

"M-my parents texted me and asked if you wanted to have dinner with us..." Craig could tell the uncertainty in Tweek's voice.

"... I don't see a problem with that?" He'd never had dinner at the Tweak household, but he assumed it wouldn't be anything horrible. Sure, they treated their son more like an employee than their offspring, but if Tweek didn't hold it against them then neither would Craig.

"My parents can be really... o-overbearing." The blond's hand had drifted to tug and toy with one of his boyfriend's wristbands, much like he usually did to his tie or hair. Craig didn't mind, just relieved that Tweek wasn't injuring himself. "T-they keep asking me about you, and... Gah, it's just too much pressure!" The wristband snapped back against the raven's wrist, causing him to wince- but with Tweek panicking like this, he chose to let it slide and opted to grab the blond's hand again.

"Honey, calm down. I'll go... We need to talk about Clyde's party, anyway." The pair of olive eyes in front of him widened.

"J-Jesus Christ, I-I know...!" Craig could nearly sense the incoming panic attack, so he began leading Tweek to his car without any further discussion. The moment they were both in the car, Tweek buried his face in his hands and began spewing out his worries. "That Lola chick was sitting next to me in a-art class- she's crazy! She w-wants Clyde to throw a party just for kissing!" Though the subject of the party stressed Craig out as well, he couldn't help but chuckle at the blond.

"This kind of party is pretty normal, Tweek... Well, when you're dating someone." This caused another yelp from the blond.

"Gah, have you been to one?" He twitched again.

"N-"

"Ch-Christ, we kiss all the time! I could get m-mono!" Craig couldn't help feeling frustrated at the paranoid boy, flipping him off.

"Chill the fuck out, Tweek. I haven't been to one, and I don't have mono to give you." The raven watched as Tweek jumped before looking at the floorboard of the unmoving car. Craig watched him a moment before starting to apologize, only to get cut off by the blond.

"... Were you wanting to go to this one...?" stutter was lost from his voice again, though still hesitant. the raven averted his eyes to stare at the steering wheel.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Craig rubbed the back of his neck. "It's sorta nice to hang out with all the guys, but it's cool if you don't want to. ... No pressure." Craig added that at the end as if that would actually redirect some of the pressure. Of course it wouldn't, he was giving Tweek a yes or no question where he was the only one who wanted to say no. He buried his face in his hands, just like he did before their first kiss, leaving a good thirty seconds of time to crawl by before opening his mouth to speak again.

"I mean it, Craig... Please don't leave me alone at this party. I barely know anyone." The raven didn't hesitate before nodding to him; he knew any sort of hesitation, at least to Tweek, meant uncertainty. He couldn't help but worry that he was forcing the blond to do a lot more than he was comfortable with, but on the other hand this entire relationship was Tweek's idea. At the very least, maybe pushing the blond out of his comfort zone could get him get used to these things. Craig gave the younger boy's hand one last squeeze before beginning the drive to the Tweak residence.


	5. Chapter 5: Smoke

**Eyyy sorry for taking forever on this one- I've had three pages of this written for at least a month now but this chapter just feels so cluttered that I just wanted to keep fixing it to no avail. In the end, I just decided to fix what I could and keep going.**

Upon arriving at Tweek's house, the duo made their way to the kitchen to get the blond's coffee fix. Craig noted the pleasant mixture of coffee and cinnamon in the air... it made their house smell oddly inviting. He watched the pair of olive eyes dart to him.

"... Nngh- want some coffee?" Another twitch from Tweek, likely from waiting so long in between mugs of coffee. Craig paused before nodding. The blond didn't hesitate before preparing what he would usually make for his boyfriend- the raven barely understood any of it, but he trusted Tweek with coffee. He was handed the peppermint latte, which seemed pitifully diluted with milk compared to the blond's regular black medium roast. Craig noticed the expectant glances from Tweek as they left the kitchen to go to the latter's room, and taking the hint he sipped at the coffee.

"... S'good. Like usual." The raven had no idea how to compliment, but he did his best. Tweek Bros. Coffee, generally speaking, tasted terrible. Tweek knew it, Tweek's parents probably knew it; however, Craig found that the blond had spent so much time around coffee that he was able to make it taste as good or better than Harbucks. Regardless, after drinking a cup the raven was almost able to relate to Tweek with his jitters and, to an extent, his paranoia. What was in that stuff? Craig turned to the blond once they got to his cluttered, lego-infested room. He had retrieved a brown paper bag, sitting down on his bed and motioning for him to come over.

"What's that?" his deep blue eyes glanced over the bag curiously as Tweek pushed it into his hands.

"... Open it, dude." He had a smile on his face, but a very hesitant one. Getting a little worried by this, he opened the bag and looked inside: what looked like pieces of machinery and a few bottles with pipette lids. Inspecting the bottles, Craig found that they were labeled 'menthol', with milliliter measurements and 'vape juice' listed under the brand name.

"... You bought me a vape?" The thin boy nodded.

"Y-you don't have to- erk- use it... but I figured you could, y'know, try it out? J-just to see if you liked it...!" Tweek was starting to get into another spasming state, so Craig nonchalantly wrapped an arm around the twitching, shuttering boy's shoulders. The raven took some level of pride every time he felt Tweek's shakes and spasms fade upon doing this. He knew his smoking worried the blond profusely, but he'd never really had enough money for this sort of thing before. What really confused him was how Tweek even knew what to buy- and who the hell was willing to sell eCigs to someone underaged?

"Of course I'll use it, babe... Where'd you get it, though?" The blond's tired eyes shifted curiously.

"What do you mean? I bought it at a vape shop..."

"... I thought those places didn't even let anyone in without IDing? And what about money?" Craig was surprised by his own capacity to give a fuck in this particular moment.

"I work my life away at my parents' coffee shop, I-I get some money in return... And as far as age goes," Tweek paused to pull at one of his own eyes a little, "... I guess they assume most seventeen-year-olds don't have dark circles like this..." The blond laughed somewhat, but Craig didn't like when Tweek put himself down. Even as a joke. The raven decided to drop it, however, returning his eyes to this new instrument. turning to sit cross-legged on the younger boy's bed, he emptied the contents of the bag and began carefully assembling it. The blond turned to watch him, their knees touching yet again.

"There." Once the eCigarette was assembled, Craig loaded it with the menthol juice. "... Mind if I try it out in here?" Tweek shook his head.

"That's the point of the vape... no smoke, no worry." He shot him another smile, this time a little more confidently now that he knew Craig liked his gift. The raven gave a small nod before clicking the button and inhaling the nicotine-infused vapor. Without thinking about it, he blew the vapor in Tweek's face, like he'd done with his cigarette smoke on their first day as a 'couple'. The pair of olive eyes across from his widened in surprise, but he started to laugh lightheartedly. With how seldom he saw Tweek laugh anymore, Craig found it infectious and started to giggle as well. Clutching the vape in one hand the raven flopped back in Tweek's bed, shifting to put his head on the pillow. Tweek merely flopped backwards next to him, not bothering to uncross his legs.

"... Can I ask you something, Craig?"

"Yeah?"

"... What happens at a make-out party?" The raven closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to every piece of information about said parties he'd gathered from friends, sitcoms and the internet.

"... I guess like spin-the-bottle, seven minutes in heaven, stuff like that?" Tweek didn't need to think hard on that before responding.

"Ngh, what's seven minutes in heaven?"

"It's like... making out. But timed. In a closet." Tweek narrowed his eyes. On second thought, that probably does seem like an odd concept to someone who'd never heard of it.

"Seven minutes is like- erk- a long time though! Christ!" Craig shrugged it off.

"It probably doesn't seem like long when you're doing it, but then again I've never really timed that sorta thing." Tweek fell silent, lost in his worries about the party. The blue-eyed boy thought on this a moment before pulling out his phone, setting the timer for seven minutes and rolling onto his side to face the blond.

"... Wanna do some more practicing?" Tweek bit his lip, mulling it over for a moment before giving a sheepish nod. Neither of them bothered to sit up, the blond just turning to face Craig, who was propped up lazily on his arm. He leaned in slowly to the coffee-scented boy's face, watching his eyes a little. They weren't squinted closed like last time, but were only as relaxed as the spazzing blond could be. Their lips touched, but only for what seemed like a second before they heard someone stomping up the stairs, as if purposefully alerting his presence. They separated and sat up, Craig shoving the vape in his pocket just in time for Tweek's dad to barge into the room.

What were they just doing? There's no reason to practice, if they were chosen to play seven minutes in heaven they could easily just sit in the closet and chat or mess around on their phones. If people started breaking off to suck face, he could easily hide out in Clyde's room with Tweek to keep people from being suspicious... None of those things occurred to Craig until now. This was all starting to feel too natural to him, which disturbed the raven.

"Tweek- oh! Craig's here! Hello, Craig." The raven had to keep from flipping Mr. Tweak off everytime he heard the elongated 'A' pronounced in his name that shouldn't be there. Tweek knew how to pronounce it, Mrs. Tweak knew how to pronounce it. But this guy...

"Hello, sir." Craig managed to keep his tone as neutral as ever, despite his many frustrations. Tweek was groaning at the mere presence of his father.

"Now son, what did I tell you about making a fuss when friends are over?" This didn't stop the groans, unsurprisingly. "Dinner'll be ready in a second, why don't you boys come downstairs and have a little chat with us in the meantime?" Though Craig was usually one to rebel, even he knew in front of his 'boyfriend's parents was neither time nor place to do so. Standing up, he reached for Tweek's hand, as per usual. The blond took the raven's hand, shaking much more than he was a few minutes sighed. He never understood why Tweek's parents put him on edge so much, but it made it difficult for him to treat them kindly in response.

"Hi, boys!" Once they got downstairs, they were greeted by the sing-song voice of Mrs. Tweak. Tweek's eye twitched harshly.

"Nnngh... H-hey, mom." Craig gave the blond's hand another squeeze, trying his best to calm the younger boy down. Tweek sat down in his usual spot, which now had a second chair pushed close to it. After a moment of hesitation, the raven took his spot next to the twitching blond. Mrs. Tweek set a coffee mug in front of her son, who gulped the scalding liquid obediently, before turning to Craig.

"Would you like some coffee, Craig?" The raven shook his head, trying his best to be polite despite feeling somewhat anxious- presumably from the last glass of Tweek Bros. Coffee. How was Tweek even alive?

"No thank you, I had some earlier." He felt his middle finger twitch against Tweek's hand when the older woman gave him an odd look, causing the blond to twitch and stare in his direction curiously. Craig chose to ignore the glance in an attempt to play his aggression off. The pair were then left alone at the table while Tweek's parents finished preparing dinner. The raven didn't let go of the blond's hand for the entirety of the wait, now feeling the need to get comforted himself. Despite seeming calm and affectionate, Mr. and Mrs. Tweak just seemed... fake. No wonder Tweek was nervous around them.

Once dinner was served, Craig still refused to let go of Tweek's hand... not that the blond tried to retract it. Tweek was right-handed and Craig was a lefty, so it didn't get in the way of them eating; however, Tweek still seemed to be having trouble. The raven turned to face the sound of clinking ceramic, only to find that the blond's hand was shaking so hard he could barely use his fork, instead letting it repeatedly tap the plate. Craig gave his hand another squeeze, but his boyfriend's attention didn't leave the table... he looked even more messed up than usual. Before the raven could ask what was wrong, Mr. Tweak cut through the silence.

"So, Craig," he started, as usual mispronouncing his name, "have you made plans for college yet?" The raven in question grunted a little. Why'd he need to know that? He simply shook his head.

"Not yet, sir." Craig was secretly very thankful for his monotone voice- it made it easy to sound polite when he really, really didn't want to. Mr. Tweak simply chuckled.

"Maybe you can work at Tweek Bros. with Tweek here- take over the family business!" Craig turned to the blond again. Was he really planning on going straight out of high school to work at the coffee shop? ... By the sudden, somewhat too-tight squeeze the raven's hand received, he assumed not.

"Y-you're putting too much pressure on me! I want out!" Tweek's parents didn't bat an eye as they watched their son spasm before slamming his face in his plate and groaning again.

"Honey, Tweek's out of coffee." The nonchalant tone in Mr. Tweak's voice pissed Craig off, and he quickly stood up, dragging Tweek with him.

"May we be excused? Thanks." The raven wasn't about to wait for a response as he rushed out the front door with the dazed blond. Closing the door and pressing his back to the wall outside, Craig let out a loud groan and turned to Tweek and snapped. "How the hell do you put up with them?" The blue-eyed boy wasn't typically one to lose his head about things, but in this moment he was seething. Unsurprisingly, the blond automatically assumed he was the target of his boyfriend's frustrations.

"I-I'm- erk- sorry...!" His olive eyes clearly displayed his fear and his lip quivered somewhat, stopping Craig's anger in its tracks. The raven scooped Tweek into his arms, holding his shivering body in a tight embrace.

"Don't apologize, babe, I'm not mad at you... but I'm gonna teach you how to be more assertive." The older boy wasn't really affectionate, or supportive for that matter- but with all the time spent around Tweek, he'd chosen to give in and help him calm down however possible. This didn't go unappreciated, as he felt the blond's small frame slowly stop shaking yet again.

"I-I don't think I'd be able to, though... They never listen to me!" He was now gripping the taller boy's sleeves tightly, squeezing at the fabric like a stress ball. Craig allowed him to do so, merely shaking his head.

"You also didn't think you could act- look at yourself now, honey." He watched as the blond furrowed his brows before cracking a small smile.

"Nggh... Yeah, I guess that's true..." The raven chuckled a little under his breath. Yet another crisis averted by 'Super Craig', he supposed.


	6. Chapter 6: Logic

**Now that I've gotten past "Smoke", I have a much better idea of where to go from here, so expect a little more frequent updates!**

 **Also this one switches perspectives about halfway through... It's pretty obvious, but it's also the first time I've done that so yeah!**

 **Enjoy 3**

The date of Clyde's party was fast-approaching. Craig had been looking forward to it from the start, and Tweek seemed to be gaining some form of excitement from it by this point. After their usual 'farewell' kiss between first and second period, the raven-headed boy made his way to his Chemistry class. As Craig took his seat, he immediately noticed he was, once again, being watched; this time, however, the offender was none other than Stan Marsh. What could he want? Craig rolled his eyes a little. He didn't hate Stan, per se- he was a hell of a lot more pleasant to be around than Cartman- but most any interaction from their group lately has been annoying. He decided to try and ignore the noirette, but unfortunately for him, Stan wasn't really the quiet type.

"... Tucker." Craig groaned to himself for a moment before rolling his head to the side, facing the slightly younger boy. He let his guard down slightly when he was handed a sloppily folded note. It was a sort of unspoken rule that you always help people out when they need to get a note to someone.

The raven whispered a small 'who?' to Stan, but he only received a small head nod in response. It was for him? Carefully unwrapping the paper, he scanned over the note. It lacked any sort of punctuation, but he expected no less from the quarterback. "Im going to ask to leave the room please offer to take me to the nurses office I need to talk to you". Craig let out a small groan and turned to Stan, noting his oddly hopeful expression. It must be something important, at least. Reluctantly he nodded- he loathed schemes like this. Once their plan succeeded and they were freed from the classroom, Stan turned to his hostage and was met with a much-expected middle finger.

"Dude, we gotta talk."

"Yeah, I sorta figured that out, Marsh." Craig idly followed Stan until they reached a secluded area of lockers, noting the apprehension that the normally confident jock was showing.

"It's... about you and Tweek." The raven rolled his eyes. Of course it was.

"What about us?" It was almost entertaining to see Stan behaving so nervously. He ran his fingers through his pitch black locks before continuing.

"... Is anyone giving you a hard time? Is the attention irritating?" Craig immediately felt his irritation start to bubble up as he flipped Stan off.

"If you're asking if you're annoying me right now? Yes." The noirette furrowed his brows a little.

"What I mean is... Is it worth it to be able to be so open with Tweek? Or do you wish you'd kept it between you guys?" Craig raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask?" He watched quietly, more inquisitive about Stan's reasoning than he chose to let on. The noirette had a clear look of panic in his eyes before closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"... You cannot tell anyone about this." The raven rolled his eyes again.

"Don't be so dramatic, I probably won't care enough to even remember what you wanna tell me." Stan sighed before looking back up to Craig, an uneasy look on his face,

"... Kyle and I are dating." Craig couldn't tell what kind of face he was making at that moment, but he assumed by looking at Stan's face that it wasn't a good one. Before he could say anything, the jock continued. "Kyle wants to be more open about it, but like... I don't know! I've seen the attention you and Tweek got from being gay, I don't know if I-" The older boy quickly held his hand up to silence him. This was very quickly getting out of hand.

"... Dude, shut up. Don't say anything else." He honestly didn't mean to sound so harsh, but he didn't need that kind of baggage on top of what he was dealing with. Two homosexuality-related secrets were just too much. It soon became apparent, however, that Craig wasn't going to get away with passing off Stan's problems that easily. The latter looked completely dejected, not to mention now Craig knew a secret about someone he's barely close to and he is certainly not the person to be giving out advice. "... Okay, listen. Do not fucking tell anyone about this, okay?" The muscular boy gave him an odd look, but Craig continued in the quietest voice he could muster. "... Tweek and I aren't really dating. We're pretending because everyone seemed so upset when we 'broke up'." The look of shock was somewhat unsettling to Craig. In the same hushed voice the raven used, Stan finally managed to form a sentence.

"Dude, how the fuck do you pretend to date someone for so long?" The raven's cheeks heated up again.

"I-I dunno man, but don't fucking tell anyone! Tweek'd kill me!" The noirette still looked stumped, but he slowly nodded.

"Y-yeah, man... You don't tell about me and Kyle, I won't tell about you and Tweek. They both paused before exchanging an awkward handshake. As Craig started to walk back to class, he heard the light text chime from his phone. Upon inspection, it was from his mom... He went pale

"Oh, god."

Tweek sat on the bus home anxiously. We always rode home with Craig nowadays, but he'd received a text in third period that Craig had gone home early... What happened? What was wrong with him? Was he abducted by gnomes? Did his parents sell him into slavery? Oh god! The frizzy-headed blond just had to shake the thought off. He had to visit the raven, that would sort things out. He could feel the muscles in his face tensing up in another spasm. Being around Craig always fixed that... Well, not so much fixed as he helped him calm down enough to put them off. He took another sip of the cafeteria coffee he had in his thermos. It didn't take the edge off like what they had at the shop, but it tasted good and helped his nerves ever-so-slightly.

Stepping off the bus, Tweek dashed off to Craig's house as quickly as his short legs could carry him. He rang the doorbell several times in quick succession before Thomas Tucker answered the door.

"... Oh, Tweek." As usual his expression was very neutral, but he seemed almost happy to see the blond. Tweek struggled to work up the nerve to talk to him- he hadn't even seen him since he and Craig got 'together', besides being told to "quit him" after they had their fake breakup.

"H-hello, sir- gah! Is- erk- Craig home?" Thomas didn't seem particularly phased by Tweek's spasms, though to be fair he didn't seem all that phased by anything. He simply stepped aside to let the jittery blond inside.

"Yeah, he's in his room. You can see if he'll let you in, but I should warn you... Stripe died again, so he's sorta down." It took Tweek a moment to decipher what he meant only to remember that Craig's kept guinea pigs since he was a kid, always naming them "Stripe". That must mean Stripe the 6th died...

"J-Jesus Christ, he loved Stripe!" With another spasm, the blond dashed up the stairs to Craig's room, leaving Thomas in a state of confusion. Craig's family, though close at times, were generally lacking in emotion around each other. Tweek had seen the gentle smile on his boyfriend's face when he would pick Stripe up, though. There was no way he was just "a little down". With a quiet knock on the door, he waited.

"... I told you, I don't wanna talk right now." Craig's voice seemed even more nasal than usual. Maybe his dad was trying to get through to him after all. Tweek let out a small shriek.

"Nggh, Craig it's me." There was a small pause before Craig finally spoke up again.

"... Okay, you can come in." The blond was somewhat relieved. The raven-haired boy always solved his problems; it was Tweek's turn to step up and help him fix what was hurting him. He quietly entered the room and closed the door behind him before turning to locate Craig. He was laying on his bed on top of the covers, his face buried in a pillow. Tweek quickly made his way to the bed, sitting down as lightly as possible on the edge so we wouldn't startle him. They sat like this in a dead silence before Craig finally turned his head to look at Tweek.

"... Sorry you had to take the bus home. Did you sit with the other guys at lunch?" That's what he was worried about right now? Tweek made a small sound of surprise.

"I did, but- er- that's not why I'm here!" He just then noticed the red, puffy rings around the raven's eyes, as well as his wet cheeks. Craig had been crying. Reason temporarily fled Tweek's mind in exchange for some sort of panic alarm. In the almost decade that he knew Craig, he'd never seen the guy shed a single tear... Yet again, he'd never been this close to the generally stoic boy before. This likely wasn't a side of himself that others got to see often.

It took him a moment to think of how to make his boyfriend feel better. For him, it wasn't a matter of solving the problem, it was a matter of letting out his emotions- but Craig was different. He always had to apply logic to everything, find a solution to every problem, or push aside his emotions. The idea suddenly struck Tweek like a bolt of lightning.

"... Craig, how long did you wait between Stripe the 5th dying and buying Stripe the 6th?" Craig's eyes widened somewhat and the blond knew he hit the nail on the head. The raven wasn't one to grieve, he was one to fix things- He would skip to the 'acceptance' stage of grief so he didn't have to deal with the rest. This may not be the healthiest way to do things, but Tweek knew this was Craig's way. He gently snaked his hand down into the Raven's, interlocking their fingers. "... C'mon, wanna go to the pet store?" Tweek could feel his heart grow a little lighter when a smile slowly made its way to Craig's face. He watched as the raven slowly pulled himself off of the bed, wiping his eyes and leading the blond back down the stairs.

Once they made it to the pet store, Craig was quick to make a beeline to the guinea pigs. For the first time, the blond was able to be beside him as he gazed through the tank at the squealing rodents. He was grinning from ear to ear as he reached into the tanks and stroked the different candidates for the title of Stripe the 7th, occasionally turning to Tweek to ask his opinion on the furry creatures. All of this put the blond's mind at an odd state of zen which ended as they left the pet store with the new fur ball. Craig held the furry mass close to his chest, stroking its small head.

"... I love him." The raven was smiling still as he offered the rodent to Tweek. The blond had insisted on paying for the small creature. Anything to make Craig happy again... The smaller boy was grinning back at the raven as he held onto Stripe on the car ride home, but his smile faltered when he felt another small peck on his lips. It wasn't that he disliked kissing Craig, that part had started feeling perfectly natural. The problem was that the raven considered it an affectionate gesture between friends. Tweek knew very well that Craig wasn't gay, but he didn't dare tell his fake boyfriend that he was still discovering himself in that sense. The older boy would just assume that Tweek had tricked him, which was the last thing he wanted. He needed to tell Craig the truth... but after the party. He deserved to have fun after all this.


	7. Chapter 7: Party

**Apologies for the much shorter chapter- this scene is actually broken up in two parts,**

 **Craig's POV (Party) and Tweek's POV (Torture). The latter will be much longer, I promise!**

It was finally time for what Craig had been anticipating: Clyde's party. Though it was a makeout party, Craig was in it for the booze and hanging out with the guys; not to mention, it was an oddly exciting concept to take Tweek to one of his first real parties. The twitchy blond was currently in the passenger seat of Craig's Honda, wearing a rather fetching pastel-themed outfit. Light colors matched him incredibly well, something his now boyfriend had to drill into him when he first made his transition into teenage fashion. He wanted loose, drab clothing the likes of the which he wore in elementary school. The taller boy looked down to his date once they made it back into his own driveway.

"... You're sure it won't freak you out if I drink?" Tweek shot him a small, teasing smile and shook his head.

"I-I'll make sure to keep my phone's camera on you in case you get shitfaced." Craig couldn't help but chuckle. Tweek's gotten so brave around him.

"And if I pass out?" The blond seemed to contemplate this before giving a surprisingly deadpan expression.

"... Hand in warm water. Still on camera." This warranted a short laugh from the icy boy.

"So cruel, Tweekers... What if I flirt with other guys?" Craig wasn't sure if he imagined the short falter in Tweek's smile before he continued.

"Nggh... Th-the whole school already thinks you cheated on me with that goth kid Michael, do you really wanna make that reputation worse for yourself?" Damn. Ready for anything.

"Fine, fine, I'll behave," Craig claimed with a tone of false reluctance. He shot the blond another smile before getting out of the car, dashing over to the passenger side so Tweek had no choice but to have his door held open for him. This garnered a middle finger from the lanky boy. He'd picked this up when he spent the evening with the Tucker family. They were all flipping each other off as they tended to do as they conversed, and Craig was expecting Tweek to panic over what most considered a hateful and obscene gesture. Instead, he simply cracked a smile and joined in, the look on his face resembling a kid who just knows what he's doing is wrong. Craig was so proud.

As per the usual, their hands were magnetized together the moment Tweek was on two feet. The raven led the duo into the increasingly deafening abode. Though there were very few cars on the property, it seemed like most everyone was there; this could be due to practically everyone in South Park besides Tweek, Token and a few others living on the same street. It was a quiet mountain town after all. Craig would've just walked over as well, considering as they live directly next door to each other, but being a good 'boyfriend' meant retrieving your twitchy blond so you could arrive together in 'style'. Not that Craig minded whatsoever.

Shaking the thought off, the raven finally opened the door, breathing in the sweet scent of booze and smoke that radiated out of the house. Clyde was a try-hard, and it really showed at his parties in the best way. Not two feet into the main room, the duo were pounced by a very tipsy brunette.

"... Clyde, the fuck'd you come from?" Craig made no effort to free himself, but Tweek didn't seem particularly happy about being touched. Clyde had a large, doofy grin on his face.

"I was watching for you guys!" He stumbled over his words slightly, but otherwise wasn't particularly hard to understand. He reeked of tequila, causing the blond to wrinkle his nose. Craig decided to ignore his friend's clingy habits for a moment.

"Where's Token? I saw his car out front." Before the brunette could even form a proper sentence, another voice spoke up.

"Over here, man." all three turned to Token, who was spread across the couch with a noticeably lackluster expression. He wasn't one to drink, so he not only became the designated driver for those who couldn't walk home- namely his girlfriend Nichole and himself, maybe Kenny if he got drunk enough- he was also 'designated mom' in their group. He generally spent any parties they had drinking soda, listening to music, coddling Clyde when he inevitably got shot down by some girl, and ready to deal with any poor soul who passed out somewhere besides a bed. Several occasions, admittedly, that was Craig. He chuckled to himself. There was only one reason Token came to these parties: he was a good guy.

"Mind if we join you while we're still sober, man?" Token's insipid expression soon lightened as he made room for the duo on the couch. The three chatted casually for quite awhile, Craig nursing some pungent margarita Jason had mixed. He had some sort of dream to be a mixologist, but mixing too much tequila with lukewarm margarita mix can't really be considered mixing... At least not in Craig's view. He'd offered to make something for Tweek as well, but the lanky boy quickly declined. A considerably amount of time passed before the excitable brunette wobbled over to the group again. He'd clearly consumed quite a bit more alcohol since their last encounter as his footing seemed to have gotten more unsteady.

"Craig, man, you gotta come over here!" The raven shot him a questioning glance, never trusting drunk Clyde's judgment; however, he kept motioning to the kitchen in an insistent way, prompting Craig to finally give in. He turned to Tweek as he stood up, an uneasy smile on his face.

"I'll be back, babe. Keep 'im safe, Token." He noticed the lost expression on the blond's face, but he definitely didn't want him getting intimidated by the other partygoers and having a panic attack. Upon following his brunette friend, he discovered the reason Clyde was so persistent (as well as how Clyde was suddenly so hammered): he wanted Craig to do a kegstand. He'd done one the last time they'd attended a party together, but that was different... The raven was much, much more inebriated. He pondered the idea of likely humiliating himself in front of a group of all his friends for a second time that year, but eventually cracked a smile.

"... If you want me to do this, give a guy a couple more shots of tequila first." There was a short burst of cheering from the minut audience that were in the kitchen, consisting of Clyde, Kenny, Butters and a few other kids he didn't pay much attention to. The last thing the raven remembered was downing several drinks, and being lifted onto the keg by who he assumed was probably Kenny as Clyde was barely able to stand on his own. After that, full blackout.


	8. Chapter 8: Torture

**Aaaand now for Tweek's side of the story, now that Craig's drunk off his ass!**

 **Warning, drunken Craig and slight angst. Not as serious as it will be tho**

Tweek felt a wave of panic hit him as Craig got up. He promised he wouldn't leave him alone... While he wasn't technically alone, the blond still didn't know Token well enough to strike up a conversation. As the taller boy disappeared into the kitchen, the blond simply sunk into the couch in a dejected way, his shakes starting up again. He was highly considering trying the discarded beverage that Craig left behind- just to take the edge off, of course- when a warm voice bellowed to him from the other side of the couch.

"... Relax man, Craig'll come back." He turned to Token, who shot him a knowing smile. The jet-haired boy seemed to understand that Tweek was panicking quite a bit. This wasn't common, as most people just assumed he was always twitchy... not that they were wrong, but regardless. The blond scratched at his arm a little.

"Nggh- What if he doesn't, though? What if he- erk- passes out? Oh god, what if someone steps on him?" His eyes were wide with terror. Token let out a small chortle.

"He'll be fine. He's not got a very high alcohol tolerance, but he usually has the decency to toddle somewhere safe before passing out. Plus, he'll probably black out before he passes out." Tweek twitched harshly.

"W-what's the difference?" Token pondered the best way to word it before speaking.

"If he passes out, he'll basically be asleep. If he blacks out, the logical part of Craig'll go to sleep, but the idiot Craig stays wide awake. You don't really remember what happens when you're like that, which is why I don't drink anymore." Tweek shrieked in panic.

"Th-that's terrifying!" The taller boy simply nodded in response.

"... Take it from me man, don't start drinking. It's boring, but a hell of a lot safer." The duo managed to keep a good conversation going for quite awhile, keeping the twitchy blond calm and the tall rich kid entertained. Suddenly Tweek jerked his face up, noticing the raven-haired teen was returning. The blond was excited to see he was okay, but something seemed... off. His lanky body swayed a little as he made his way over, his eyes somewhat glazed over; he was drunk off his ass. Craig flopped onto the couch, separating Tweek and Token, who shared a glance. He smelled like smoke.

"Nggh- what the h-hell, man, I thought you quit smoking?" The hurt was prevalent in the younger boy's voice. The raven shook his head a little too dramatically, not seeming to realize his hat was missing, and leaned in against Tweek.

"I did... I just took a draw off Clyde's cig. Nooo big deal..." He wasn't slurring all that much, but he was speaking slowly, even for Craig. Tweek wrinkled his nose a little.

"Didn't Clyde- erk- quit before you?" He twitched again. For once, having the blue-eyed boy close wasn't helping. Token decided to step in on this one.

"Clyde smokes when he drinks... But Clyde also doesn't have a boyfriend who he quit smoking for, so maybe a certain someone should keep away from the Marlboros for the rest of the night." The jet-haired boy definitely didn't think too highly of Craig in this moment and was giving him the stink eye. The drunken mess of a teen seemed none the wiser, wrapping his long arms around the smaller boy's waist and pulling him close. Tweek gasped somewhat and arched his back, not used to this sort of affection from the older teen, but the closeness didn't last long before a perky voice assaulted their eardrums.

"You two, seven minutes in heaven time!" The blond turned to the source of the voice- Lola. Despite making Clyde throw this party in exchange for being his date, the two didn't seem to go near each other the entire party, seeing as most of the boys fled into the kitchen to do who-knows-what. Tweek shuttered. When they were sober and discussing the 'plan' of what they'd do if they got chosen for the game, it all seemed simple: go in, kiss until the door was closed for sure, then talk or whatever until the timer went off. Now, the blond was more concerned with how long Craig could go without passing out or puking. Nonetheless, this is one of the things that made it a 'makeout party', so Tweek presumed they should play along. The older boy, even when black-out drunk, still took the lead and practically pulled the smaller boy into the closet. There they were once again, knee-to-knee and facing each other. Whoever set up for the party had hung string lights in the closet, which seemed odd to Tweek- why would they need to see? His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his leg. He felt his cheeks heat up as his eyes followed the hand to Craig, then up to his face; he looked oddly smitten.

"... Craig?" Tweek's voice sounded almost weak from surprise. The older boy sniggered somewhat. He was only about a foot away from the blond's face.

"Yeees?" His face drew a little closer. He definitely smelled like booze, but not tequila like before... Probably beer, but there was a distinct minty smell. Maybe even just Craig's toothpaste, but it was a welcome change from the smoke and alcohol. When he didn't get a response, he tilted his head to the side. "... Wanna make out, Tweekers?" Tweek twitched harshly again as his face turned a distinctive red. He was mortified... yet somewhat relieved he asked instead of just doing it. Self-control was the number one reason the blond was nervous around drunk people.

"Nggh... A-are you wanting to?" Something felt wrong about this. He wanted to, but Craig was drunk... Yet again, he's the one who wanted to come to this party. If he wouldn't remember this tomorrow, and they didn't do anything crazy, it'd probably be fine. The older boy let out a husky chuckle before filling in the gap between their lips. The pressure from Craig's snakebites seemed to snap Tweek back into reality. The gentle scraping was something the blond had gotten used to, so it was an enticing, familiar feeling that caused him to give in to the kiss. Tweek couldn't help but savor this closeness- He loved Craig's scent.

Suddenly a quick, wet sensation met the blond's lips and his eyes shot open. Had he imagined that, or was Craig licking his lips? The answer soon became apparent as the action repeated several times. His curiosity overcoming his nerves, Tweek finally gave in and parted his lips slightly, just long enough for Craig to notice the opening and slip him the tongue. The feeling was something he definitely hadn't experienced before, and it sent a shiver down his spine. He even tasted like alcohol. Despite this, however, the blond didn't consider any of this particularly unpleasant and let his eyelids flutter shut, letting Craig take over.

Craig's tongue explored every inch of Tweek's mouth, and eventually the blond's mind clouded over. It was torture. He adored this feeling, but he knew none of it was real. There was no way Craig had any sort of feelings for him, he'd said numerous times he was straight. He claimed that Tweek had ruined his chances with any of the girls in class once they staged their initial 'breakup.' To the blond, it wasn't a matter of if Craig wanted to break up so he wouldn't be weighed down by the twitchy teen- it was a matter of when he'd do it. He suddenly felt Craig's lips leave his so he opened his eyes, peering up at him. Even in the dim lights, he could tell the raven looked almost horrified. The younger boy immediately scrambled to think of what he'd done wrong, searching the raven's pale face.

"... You're crying." As if reading Tweek's thoughts, the older boy reached out and smeared the tears off of the blond's cheeks. Tweek copied this action; he hadn't even noticed he'd started tearing up, but sure enough he was.

"I-it's nothing- erk- my e-eyes are just watering..." Craig's expression seemed almost stern, his gaze directed fiercely into Tweek's eyes.

"If something's wrong, tell me." He was still speaking slowly, but the earlier affectionate tone of his voice had vanished. It was physically impossible that he'd sobered up in that short amount of time, so Tweek could only assume this sudden seriousness was another quirk of a drunken Craig. The blond wanted to sound as assertive as Craig, but failed miserably as his voice came out in a weak mewl.

"... I'll tell you when you're sober, but you didn't do anything wrong." This wasn't simply a tactic to avoid the inevitable- he really needed to have a serious talk with Craig about how long he wanted to keep this up. Tonight, however, the raven in question was swaying in place despite sitting down and likely wouldn't remember a word of this tomorrow. Regardless, Craig seemed to accept this as an answer and lightened up a little.

"I'll hold you to that, Tweekers..." He stood up, holding his hand out to Tweek. Taking it and allowing himself to be helped up, the twitchy blond stared at his boyfriend questioningly.

"A-are we leaving?" Craig smiled and let out another chuckle.

"I think they forgot about us... We've been in here for awhile, I think." Sure enough, by the time they left the closet the rest of the party seemed to have cleared. Token was absent and the only person left in the living room was a sleeping Nichole on the couch. Like a man on a mission, Craig escorted Tweek up the stairs.

"Ngggh... Where're we going?" Though he trusted sober Craig with his wellbeing, he didn't trust drunk Craig all that much. He could barely walk in a straight line.

"Clyde's bed." He said it very casually, as if not realizing the implications. The blond, on the other hand, wasn't one to take it so lightly.

"Wh-what? Jesus Christ, what're you planning?" Tweek couldn't help jumping to conclusions, it was in his nature. Craig, though normally irritated by this, began laughing like a fool.

"Sleeping, you big baby... My folks don't care that I drink, but they don't want me going home and scaring Tricia." The blond immediately calmed down somewhat. No matter how drunk he was at the moment, he at least still sounded like himself. The blond had always assumed alcohol turned you into some parallel universe form of yourself.

"... What about Clyde?" Craig simply shrugged the thought off, arriving at the brunette's door.

"It's a big bed." Tweek sighed. Expecting logical answers seemed like a stretch, so he simply prayed that Clyde wouldn't get mad. They opened the door to reveal a familiar jet-haired figure tucking the brunette into bed. Token definitely was the mom of their group... His hazel eyes drifted to meet the duo.

"... That's one less angsty teen I have to play babysitter with." He chuckled, motioning to a very cozy looking Clyde. "Found this guy crying in the middle of the kitchen floor, and you know what he says? 'I forgot I was here with Lola and now she's gone'." Tweek couldn't help but giggle at the brunette's expense a little. Despite how much their personalities clashed, Clyde had really grown on him- which was fortunate, since he and Craig were best friends. Craig, on the other hand, had his eyes set on the free end of the brunette's bed and bypassed their taller friend. He flopped on the bed, over the covers, pulling Tweek on top of him. The blond couldn't tell if this was purposeful or just a lack of motor skills, but he knew for a fact wasn't comfortable in the position; as such, he tugged free of Craig and allowed himself to fall into the gap between the drunken boys. Token let out an uneasy chuckle at the sight.

"... You've got my number, Tweek- if you need me, don't be afraid to call." The blond simply gave a weak nod and Token left, likely to take Nichole and himself home. His words echoed in the paranoid blond's head. He was emotionally exhausted, nervous, anxious... Being sandwiched was not helping his nerves. Almost like he sensed Tweek's distress, Craig turned to face him in his sleep and yanked the blond closer, mashing his head into his chest. Not particularly a gentle guy, but The younger boy didn't mind in this moment. The smell of mint, booze and smoke mingled, Craig was breathing down the back of his neck and Clyde's snoring sounded similar to the noise makers his parents bought him to 'help him sleep'. The mixture of these things overwhelmed the tired boy's senses, and he somehow managed to relax enough to close his eyes. Even though it took him ages to fall asleep (like usual), there was something oddly calming about the situation he now found himself in- so when he fell asleep, he was able to sleep like a rock until morning.


	9. Chapter 9: Pretending

**This one's a bit more angsty and a bit short- I didn't wanna drag it on too far tho!**

As Tweek began to wake up, he was immediately assaulted by sensations he wasn't used to: there was someone's arms around his waist, the bed didn't smell like his, the roar of snoring was in his ear... As his eyes shot open and he was too frozen to panic, the events of the night before quickly flooded back to him and kept him from screaming then and there. This slight peace of mind was torn away from him yet again when he realized Craig wasn't filling the spot next to him- not only that, but the limbs attached to his lower body were clearly not Craig's, either. The scream that he'd caught in his throat was now released and he jolted to the opposite end of the bed, staring wide-eyed in the direction of his captor.

"Dude, what the hell?" Clyde, who had been flung off of the bed during Tweek's panicked flailing, was now standing with his head cradled in his hand. Once again, the younger boy calmed down somewhat; Clyde snuggling him wasn't something that particularly worried him, considering he was straight and basically a big brother by this point. He was crawling back under the covers, clearly ready to resume his slumber, when the blond's worries spilled over.

"S-sorry- erk- dude, I didn't think you'd be clinging to me like that- but where's Craig?" Tweek could hardly form his apology before trying to discover where his raven-haired crush had gone. Clyde curled up to his blanket, which had somehow made its way over Tweek as well, before answering.

"He woke up a little while ago... It was his turn to make a Harbuck's run." He lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes before adding, "... And lower the volume if you can, Tweekers, I really overdid it last night." The blond quickly nodded, having very little knowledge about alcohol but vaguely hearing about hangovers. Managing to lower his voice to a whisper, Tweek continued.

"Nnngh... You guys do this often...?" He wasn't trying to interrogate him, but he was genuinely curious. He'd spent a lot of time around Craig in the past weeks, but he'd never met this side of the raven. Clyde chuckled somewhat, his voice also in a whisper.

"Yeah... When we drink together, we usually spend the next day in bed, drinking coffee and watching old horror movies." Tweek seemed surprised for a moment before developing an intent sense of guilt. He was crashing Craig and Clyde's fun as best friends; he didn't belong here. He quickly removed himself from the blankets before attempting to escape from the bed. To his surprise, he felt a light tug at the hem of his shirt, and he turned to the brunette once again.

"H-hey, dude, where're you going? Are you leaving?" He actually seemed sort of upset about this. Tweek nervously tugged at his tie a little.

"Erk, um... This is you guys' thing, y'know? I-I don't wanna butt in..." He shrieked again as Clyde pulled him by the waist back to his spot on the bed.

"C'mon, man, don't leave...!" Tweek swore in his head a little. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with them, he just didn't want to be a burden- plus, he was starting to get nervous about seeing Craig again. What if he remembered what happened last night? As if on queue, the grumpy raven trudged into the room and slammed the door behind him with his leg, carrying a cup holder full of coffee and a paper bag. Clyde didn't let go of Tweek, offering a small wave to Craig. Seemingly ignoring everything else around him, he tossed the bag in Clyde and Tweek's direction before crawling back under the covers with the coffee in-hand.

"... I hope you don't mind, babe, but I got you the same thing I got... I wasn't sure what you'd want." Tweek smiled a little as Clyde released him and Craig curled an arm around him in the brunette's place. Taking the coffee handed to him, he sniffed it somewhat- peppermint, no surprise there.

"That's fine... It smells good." It was Craig's turn to smile now, and it made the blond's heart flutter. He didn't care at this moment if Craig was just putting on an affectionate show for Clyde, being held close as they enjoyed their coffee and bagels was a good way to start his morning. The raven was back to vaping, which calmed Tweek's worries from the night before on whether or not he would go back to smoking... The last thing he wanted to do was bring the night before up. Once he'd finished eating, Craig buried his face in Tweek's neck, clearly exhausted.

"What movie're we watching first, dude...?" His husky voice and warm breath against the blond's neck made him shutter somewhat. Craig seemed none the wiser. Clyde blindly reached to his dresser, revealing a remote and turning the TV on.

"... Something on Netflix?" The brunette was still facing the TV and scrolling through the 'Horror' list on Netflix, leading the raven to make an affirmative grunt in response. The entire day followed a set pattern. The volume of the movies were turned low to prevent further headaches for the hungover duo surrounding Tweek, and despite this every cheesy 'scary' moment of the film sent him hiding in Craig's chest. Tweek really didn't do well with horror films; however, he still thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He didn't care for a short time that their relationship was fake, because intimate moments like this were still real. He was being included.

It wasn't until evening, when Craig was walking Tweek home through the cold winter night, that the blond's worries came back full swing. The older boy had insisted on walking him home since he was too nauseous to feel like driving, and Tweek didn't put up a fight. It was then, as their hands were clasped together and their shivering bodies pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in an attempt to get warm, that the blond's stress couldn't be kept inside anymore.

"Nggh- Jesus, Craig, we need to t-talk." His volume was a few levels above what he intended, causing Craig to jolt to the side and glance at him. For a moment, Tweek thought he could see a very familiar panic flash across Craig's blue eyes.

"What is it, babe?" Tweek cringed- or, at least, what should've been a cringe and turned more into a twitch. The blond couldn't help the groan forming in his throat. In a much more hostile way than he intended, he continued.

"Agh- Wh-why do you call me that, dude?" By this time Tweek had freed his hand from Craig's now loose grasp. His lips were slightly parted in shock and he stared deeply into the blond's eyes, desperately searching for an answer as to why he was suddenly so agitated. This was bad- Tweek wasn't trying to be so aggressive, he just wanted answers. With a sigh, he tried his best to gather his thoughts before continuing.

"Look dude, I just... I don't get what's going on here, Craig. I thought we were pretending..." He finally managed to look back into the raven's eyes. Craig seemed to be caught more off-guard than Tweek had ever seen him... the blond, on the other hand, was shaking like a leaf. Neither were in the best shape. After a long moment of silence and Craig looking like he'd forgotten how to breathe, he finally spoke up.

"W-... We are, aren't we...?" The blond could feel his chest tighten painfully at those words as if he'd expected a different answer. Without thinking, he objected.

"D-dude, we've made out! Like, in _private_!" His ears were on fire while Craig's face was a foreign shade of pink. He looked absolutely chagrined.

"We were practicing, Tweek...!" Craig was beginning to get defensive in response to the blond's hostility. Also bad. This didn't stop Tweek's emotions, however, has he clenched his fist until his knuckles were white.

"G-goddamnit, dude, practicing for what? When you took me into the closet last night and stuck your tongue down my throat?" With that, Craig reverted to being at a loss for words. He clearly hadn't remembered the events of the night before until now. Seeing Craig's uncharacteristically red face caused Tweek to grow silent as well; his earlier anger had faded out to an empty feeling as he hugged himself, shuttering against the icy air of their quiet mountain town. "H-how do you feel about this, Craig...? How long were you wanting to keep this up?" He bit his lip to keep it from quivering as he watched the raven's lost expression.

"... You tell me first, Tweek." He could tell Craig already knew the answer, but he was still a little reluctant.

"... I don't want to pretend anymore, Craig... If we keep this up, it's gotta be _real_."

"... Give me some time to think about this, Tweek." The blond felt his heart drop even farther. He hadn't realized how strong his feelings toward Craig were until this moment and he really didn't know how to deal with them... But as usual, the raven had to play it logically. With a sigh, the blond continued.

"H-how long, Craig?" His voice was weak, empty. Craig took a deep breath before responding.

"... Three days, Tweek. Enough time to figure this out." The blond's eyes trailed down to the ground as Craig hesitantly approached him, draping his jacket around Tweek's frail shoulders. "... You can keep this until then." The blond didn't say anything, just nodding in response before turning on his heel and disappearing into the snowy night. He wasn't one to cry over things like Clyde was, but his emotions were beginning to choke him and tears began to sting his eyes. Once he reached his destination, he dropped down onto the porch and allowed himself to cry out all the emotions he'd felt for the past forty-eight hours, still covered in Craig's jacket.


End file.
